KEY STEPS

Community-Based Micro-Climate Resilience helps urban poor
communities in Gorakhpur, India adapt to climate change by designing and building new types of
flood-resilient and affordable houses. Locally available bricks are used, with technologies and
techniques that make building brick walls less energy intensive. This building method is more
environmentally friendly than conventional practices, both in terms of optimization of resources
and energy efficiency.

The Mahewa ward of Gorakhpur, India, is prone to flooding during the monsoon season, affecting more
than one million people in Uttar Pradesh. Many of the people who live in this community are poor
and marginalized and are therefore more vulnerable to the impact of climatic hazards, such as
floods, cyclones, altered rain patterns and heat waves.

The solution

Community-Based Micro-Climate Resilience fuses improved building materials and design with
indigenous knowledge in developing countries. The result is low-cost, housing that is both climate
resilient and produces fewer carbon emissions. People who benefit from the project are involved in
the construction process and then help others who want to adopt the design.

Helping the planet

The homes built by this activity minimize the use of energy-intensive materials like bricks and
cement. In addition, the construction materials are locally sourced to reduce the cost of
transportation and the greenhouse gas emissions associated with it.

Helping people

Low-cost, sustainable housing policies, standards and techniques provide several benefits to
residents and the wider population, including resilience to climate change, improved health,
increased safety and sanitation and poverty alleviation. Over the years, this activity has reached
out to families affected by earthquakes, floods and cyclones; restoring homes, schools and
hospitals.

Spillover effect

Community-Based Micro-Climate Resilience uses replicable and cost-effective technologies to build
sustainable housing. To ensure the technologies are replicated, activity representatives held
consultations, workshops and hands-on training in Mahewa, a highly flooded area with a population of about
12,000 people.